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Colorado State's Ty Sambrailo deals with temporary role

Senior happy to help, but desperate to play

By Mike Brohard

Sports Editor

Posted:
04/15/2014 06:48:46 PM MDT

Ty Sambrailo, shown diving for the end zone against Cal Poly on his lone carry in 2013, has sat out of contact drills this spring after undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason. The second-team All-Mountain West selection is the Rams' only returning starting offensive lineman. (Michael Bettis / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

FORT COLLINS — When August hits, so will Ty Sambrailo.

He's been aching to do just that for the past three weeks, but he also understands it would lead to bigger aches later on for his shoulder, the one that was surgically fixed in the offseason.

Really, if Colorado was on the schedule Saturday instead of his Colorado State teammates in the spring game, the senior tackle would be ready to play. Heck, he played nine games last year with a torn labrum and he still earned second-team All-Mountain West honors.

So, when he finally gets a chance to hit somebody, he's not going to have to be told twice.

"There's a lot of pent-up aggression, yeah," Sambrailo said with a grin. "We'll see how that goes."

Ty Sambrailo

Sambrailo fully understands the drill. By sitting out this spring, he should be fresh for the fall, when the Rams will really need him as the only returning starter on the offensive front.

Offensive line coach Derek Frazier, like Sambrailo himself, would rather have his leader on the field this spring. Still, having him for individual work and another set of eyes has been beneficial to them all.

"He does a great job. That's the one thing, is to keep him in and keep him just pouring into those guys, because he's got a whole bunch of knowledge," Frazier said. "He's one of those guys, he gets mental reps and to be able to talk to a guy and say, 'you've got to take a better first step, you've got to keep your chest on your knee and get your hands in there,' that's valuable coming from him, because the teacher learns the most. As he's teaching the guys, he's reinforcing what he already knows to help him to play even faster come this next season."

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In some ways, the teacher has become the student. Coach Jim McElwain said Sambrailo has now seen the other side, where knowing how to do something and delivering clear, concise instruction on how to enact it is not always that simple.

Sambrailo said it's not like he's really learned anything new in the process, but he has learned it better, and that in itself will pay off when Saturdays matter most.

"There's no doubt in my mind about what's supposed to happen and what steps are supposed to be taken on what play," he said. "It's all kind of second nature. When you watch somebody do it, you have to know exactly what you're looking for as well as knowing what you're supposed to do. It's different looking at something than doing it, but it's given me both perspectives of what I need to do and what I need to do to execute."

In the meantime, Sambrailo has warmed up quarterback Garrett Grayson at halftime of a scrimmage, as well as playing center and then turning around and handing off the ball to a back in half-line drills. He joked for Saturday's scrimmage he'll don a head set and strike a coaching stance on the sidelines.

Still, he'd rather be playing.

"I have mixed feelings about it. It's frustrating from my perspective, from an individual perspective getting better," Sambrailo said. "Usually you go from fall and you make a jump to spring, and from spring you make a jump to the next season. From that angle, it's been extremely frustrating for me personally. In terms of being able to help the team, I feel I've done a pretty good job and it's been valuable."

McElwain agrees. He said Sambrailo's instruction helped junior college transfer Jordan Finley develop up until a knee injury two weeks ago that will now lead to surgery to clean up the issue. It's also helped others.

"Jordan was huge, but I look at Nick Callender probably," McElwain said. "He's done some pretty darn good things. I'm pleasantly surprised with his emergence."

So, while it wasn't the spring Sambrailo had hoped to have, it is one that he expected. He's dealt with it, expecting the end to justify the means.

"I know I could (play) if I had to, but I understand the other side of it," he said. "I might as well get 100 percent fixed. It makes a lot of sense. Why deal with a lingering issue when I can take care of it? I may miss a spring, but I can come back full strength."

Finley won't be the only Ram to miss the spring game. Linebacker Max Morgan has been held out all spring with his shoulder, as well as corner Bernard Blake. McElwain added to the list tight end Kivon Cartwright, who sprained an ankle in the last scrimmage, as well as linebacker Cory James, who McElwain said has had enough.

"Let's put it this way, the tackles have had enough," the coach said in reference to James' play this spring.

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